Locke'd In Baseball

Arizona is trying to compete in the NL West, but the injury list is brutal. Corbin Burnes is recovering from Tommy John and won't return until around the All-Star break. Corbin Carroll broke his hamate bone in live BP. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. is out until at least May with a torn ACL. Co-closers A.J. Puk and Justin Martinez are both recovering from elbow surgery.

We break down how Arizona plans to hold it together: Nolan Arenado's addition at third, Jordan Lawlar's move to center field and whether he can finally hit MLB pitching, the wide-open bullpen with Kevin Ginkel and Jonathan Loáisiga competing for high-leverage roles, and top prospect Ryan Waldschmidt's dark-horse case for the Opening Day roster. Plus — is this team built to survive until reinforcements arrive, or will the NL West bury them before Burnes ever takes the mound?

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We could NOT agree on this team. New ownership, a roster overhaul, and a return to Tropicana Field after a year playing outdoors at Steinbrenner Field - the Rays are either a sleeper or the AL East cellar dweller. We go back and forth on whether Shane McClanahan can actually be an ace again after missing two seasons, Junior Caminero's alarming home/road splits and what moving back to one of baseball's more pitcher-friendly parks means for his 45-homer follow-up, plus our win total predictions where we landed on opposite sides.

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Three straight years of rising win totals, and now the A's have arguably the most dangerous young lineup in baseball. Nick Kurtz is coming off a Rookie of the Year season with 36 homers, Jacob Wilson hit .311 as a rookie, and Brent Rooker played all 162 games. The offense isn't the question, the pitching is. Every projected starter comes with a question mark, the bullpen is near the bottom of the league, and the next wave of arms led by Luis Morales and Gage Jump still has to prove it. We break down the third base battle, Zack Gelof's uncertain roster path, whether Jeff McNeil can lengthen this lineup, and if the A's have enough pitching to turn a dark horse buzz into an actual playoff run in Sacramento.

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Can Paul Skenes win a second straight Cy Young? An... MVP?! Konnor Griffin is the best prospect since Mike Trout and he might make the Opening Day roster at 19. The Pirates added Brandon Lowe, Marcell Ozuna, and Ryan O'Hearn to an offense that was dead last in runs a year ago. We break down Pittsburgh's top tier rotation, the Griffin timeline, whether Oneil Cruz can tap into his 40-homer ceiling, and the big question hanging over everything: can this window stay open long enough before Skenes hits free agency?

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Total organizational chaos in Minnesota. The Twins fired Rocco Baldelli after a 70-92 season, then parted ways with Derek Falvey just two weeks before spring training. Derek Shelton is the new manager, Jeremy Zoll is running baseball ops, and nobody seems aligned on whether this team is competing or rebuilding. Oh, and Pablo López and Joe Ryan are already hurt - so the rotation that was supposed to be the strength is now a massive question mark before a single game has been played.We break down what's left of this roster, the unsettled bullpen, and whether the No. 2 ranked farm system, headlined by Walker Jenkins, Emmanuel Rodriguez, and Kaelen Culpepper, can accelerate the timeline. Plus our win total predictions and whether Byron Buxton finishes the season in a Twins uniform.

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Miami finished 79-83 last year, a 15-win improvement, and wasn't eliminated from a Wild Card spot until the final days of the season. Now the Marlins are saying they plan to compete. Are they serious? We break down the case for Miami: Sandy Alcantara's late-season comeback, Eury Pérez headlining one of the deepest pitching staffs in camp, and a rotation battle featuring Paddack, Max Meyer, and Braxton Garrett all fighting for spots. Plus, can Agustín Ramírez hold off Joe Mack behind the plate? And what does the arrival of Owen Caissie mean for an outfield that's been quietly stockpiling talent under Peter Bendix? The rebuild framing might be wrong, this team is quietly interesting.

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For the first time in a generation, the Cardinals aren't competing, they're tearing it down. Chaim Bloom dealt both Nolan Arenado and Brendan Donovan this offseason, and more than half the pitchers in camp weren't even in the org a year ago.We break down what a Cardinals rebuild actually looks like: top-5 prospect JJ Wetherholt's arrival, a wide-open rotation battle, and an outfield trio of Nootbaar, Victor Scott II, and Jordan Walker that's all on trial. The rebuild is real. The question is how fast it goes.

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High-risk, high-reward. The Angels hired Kurt Suzuki as manager despite zero prior coaching experience and built their roster around bounce-back bets across the board. Grayson Rodriguez and Alek Manoah are both coming off full seasons missed to injury. Can Mike Trout stay healthy? We break down the reclamation project rotation, the wide-open closer battle, the Christian Moore vs. Vaughn Grissom competition at second base, and make our predictions for the 2026 Angels.#mlb #baseball

New front office. New manager. New everything. Blake Butera is the youngest MLB manager in over 50 years, the entire coaching staff has been overhauled, and the young core of James Wood, CJ Abrams, and Dylan now has to prove themselves to a regime that didn't draft them. We break down the first base battle, Josiah Gray's comeback from Tommy John, James Wood's rebound from a bad second half and why this spring is a prove-it moment for Washington's rebuild.

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The rebuild is real and it might be working faster than anyone expected. Munetaka Murakami headlines a busy offseason, Colson Montgomery is embracing the face-of-the-franchise role, and a loaded prospect pipeline led by Braden Montgomery, Noah Schultz, and Hagen Smith is knocking on the door. We break down the outfield logjam, a wide-open rotation battle, and when this thing could actually become competitive.

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